Phantom Obligation

Terry Godier on why RSS readers (still) look like email clients, and why that means the design has guilt built-in.

He asks Brent Simmons, the designer of the first RSS reader, NetNewsWire, who says:

The part I don’t understand and can’t explain is why RSS readers are still mostly following this UI. But every new RSS reader ought to consider not being yet another three-paned-aggregator. There are surely millions of users who might prefer a river of news or other paradigms. Why not have some fun and do something new, or at least different?

• Design ·
• RSS ·
• Software